Xavier Alexander Nathaniel Anderson
by naruto'sramengirl
Summary: The group had finally destroyed XANA, or so they thought. The tricky "AI" has escaped and has taken a rather unlikely vessel, Ulrich, as his new home. Now, Ulrich has to cope with returning to a "normal" life with his former enemy inhabiting his mind.
1. Meet Xana

Hey, I'm back! For those who don't know me, I am naruto'sramengirl aka the author of the incredibly long story titled The Best of Times the Worst of Times and E-Force Trio. I do plan on continuing those stories, but I'm not promising anything. However, I do want to continue writing, and I've decided to go ahead and start writing stories to other ideas that I've had for a while. This is one of them. I think you'll like this concept (I do), but I honestly have no idea where I'm going with this (as if I ever do). So without further ado, here is Xavier Alexander Nathaniel Anderson! Or as you might know him, XANA!

It was the moment that the group had dreamed of for so long. They had been through perilous battles, only to reach this one moment that would be etched in their memories for the rest of their lives. They sacrificed their regular lives just to face this one enemy, and they intended to see this through to the end. It had bonded them together, and they intended to make sure that it wouldn't be the thing that would ultimately destroy them. This was it: the day that the Lyoko Gang would take down Xana.

"Okay, guys. Remember the plan; get Aelita to the tower so she can hack into Xana's hiding spot. I'll launch the virus that will destroy him and finally end this thing." Jeremie said from the supercomputer.

"Right, right, We've heard this before, Einstein. We know what to do." Odd said as he rolled his eyes, making Aelita giggle.

"I don't think you realize how important this is, Odd!" Jeremie said angrily, "You're walking in territory that we've never set foot in—Xana's Lair. If you're devirtualized here, it's all over!"

"Cool it, Jeremie." Ulrich said. "We all know what's at stake here. Odd, you've got to take this seriously."

"Fine, I know." Odd sighed impatiently. "Let's just get this over with."

"Any final words?" Yumi asked.

"Good luck, you guys." Jeremie replied.

"Oh! And I would like to add something." A rather manly voice said. "First, I thank you all for taking care of Aelita for me. Furthermore, remember that the fate of the world is in your hands. And," Franz paused for a moment, "come home. All of you."

"See you soon, Daddy." Aelita said as she beamed with happiness. She still couldn't believe that they had found her father.

It happened not too long ago. While traveling in the Skid, they were ambushed by a swarm of Xana's ships. Suddenly, they were engulfed by a blinding light. The enemies were destroyed, and the only remaining ship was William's. They reached the replica safely while William followed in hot pursuit. However, the bright light consumed William, and he began yelling in pain. For some unknown reason he was instantly devirtualized. Fearing danger, Jeremie immediately had everyone return to the factory. When the scanners opened, there laid Franz Hopper and William Dunbar on the floor, unconscious. When questioned, they had no idea as to what the bright light was, or to how and why they had returned to Earth.

A week had passed, and now they were ready to take down Xana. Everyone was willing to give it their best effort. William agreed, that it was too risky for him to return to Lyoko for fear that he was possessed again and stayed behind.

"Okay, guys, let's go." Ulrich said. The gang entered Xana's Lair, realizing that this was the final time they would ever set foot on Lyoko again. Xana's Lair had an ominous atmosphere. It resembled Sector Five, however it was black in color, and the flow glowed with a blood red light.

"Ever wonder if this is what Hell looks like?" Odd wandered out loud.

"Odd, shut up." Yumi barked. "The last thing I want to think I about is this being Hell."

The gang ran towards a large red tower with a black Xana symbol on the front of it. Before they could reach it, they were met by a swarm of Xana's monsters. The final battle commenced. The army consisting of two megabanks, four tarantulas, and five mantas, attacked the heroes with an array of blasts.

Using his speed, Ulrich dodged the barrage of blasts and stuck his sword deep into the symbol of a tarantula. A manta above shot at him, but he was able to deflect the blast in time. Odd shot two laser arrows and destroyed the manta. The battle progressed, and everyone was reaching their last few life points with only one megatank and two mantas to go.

"Guys, you're winding down to the final round. You have to hold on."

"How do you expect us to fight the enemy in such a confined area?" Ulrich yelled as he dodged the wave shot out of the megatank.

"Just hold on, Aelita has finished hacking into Xana's mainframe. We're just waiting for the virus to take effect." Jeremie said assuringly.

Jumping on top of a manta, Yumi managed to steer it above the fellow manta in order to get a clear shot of it with her fan. After destroying it, she sliced the other manta in half and jumped off of it just before it exploded.

"And the fabulous Yumi, impressively defeats the menacing mantas!" Odd announced. His celebrating was short-lived as the megatank's waved almost cut the purple cat-boy in half.

"Odd, what did I say!" Ulrich shouted.

"Okay! I'm sorry that you're so worried about me, but I've got it all under control." Odd retorted. With that, Odd shot a laser arrow that hit the symbol and destroyed the megatank.

The gang shouted in triumph as Aelita exited the black tower. "It's done Jeremie!"

"Good job, guys. We did it! We finally defeated XANA!"

"Uhh, before you break out in song, you mind sending us back before Xana's Lair is destroyed, taking us with it?" Ulrich said.

"Chill, I'm already sending you guys back."

"Wait? Did Jeremie just say 'chill'?" Yumi said with a bewildered look on her face.

"He did!" Odd said, flabbergasted (that's a funny word).

The gang was materialized, one by one, Ulrich being the last one to start. It just so happened that the tower exploded for no apparent reason. Fortunately the particles weren't harmful enough to destroy Ulrich, and he was materialized safely.

"Jeremie! Was that supposed to happen?" Ulrich asked as he stepped out of the scanner.

"I'm not entirely sure. It could have been the result of the virus, though." Jeremie explained.

"I see. For a minute there, I thought I was a goner."

"You okay?" Yumi asked. Ulrich nodded.

"Aww, Yumi, you worried about your boyfriend?" Odd joked. Yumi responded with a death glare. Odd remained quiet for the remainder of the chapter.

"Now, now." Franz said. "You guys did a job well done. XANA is gone, and you now have the rest of your lives to look forward to.

"Right! So let's celebrate!" Aelita exclaimed.

"Princess, is past midnight." Ulrich said with a yawn.

"Oh." Aelita stood there, speechless. "Then let's celebrate later, when it's sunny outside."

"Okay, then, I'll see you guys later. I have to get home now." Yumi said as she ran towards her house.

"Not going to walk her home?" Franz asked Ulrich.

Ulrich stepped back as he looked at the professor with a surprised face. "Wh-What do you mean?" he stuttered.

"It's obvious that you two care for each other deeply." Franz said. Everyone except Ulrich laughed.

"We're just friends! That's all!" Ulrich insisted.

"If you say so." Franz said with a doubtful look on his face. "Of course they're not the only ones in love." Franz said as he looked towards Jeremie and Aelita's direction. Both tried to laugh off the awkwardness of Franz's words. "And as a father, don't think I won't let you have any kind of way with my daughter, Mr. Belpois." Franz said sternly.

"Y-yes, sir." Jeremie answered in fear.

"Daddy." Aelita whined.

"Fine, it's late anyway. We should get some sleep." Franz said.

Everyone drifted off into their first peaceful sleep. It had been years, decades for Franz, since any of them had had a real good night's sleep. It was well deserved and the least they could have for saving the world. However, one brunette was having a rather weird dream.

Ulrich looked around his surroundings. Everything was white. Then a boy his age appeared in front of him, almost giving Ulrich a heart attack. "Who the heck are you?" Ulrich said, trying to catch his breath.

"Hello, Ulrich Stern. It's a pleasure to meet you, even though this isn't our first encounter. Ulrich looked at him as him he were crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

The boy chuckled. "I suppose you wouldn't know me. After all, you've never actually seen the real me."

"Okay, Ulrich, this is a dream. Dreams don't have to make sense." Ulrich told himself.

"Trust me, you know me. In fact you know me very well."

Ulrich stared at him. He looked very well kept with neat brown hair. He was wearing A brown sweater vest with a long sleeved white shirt underneath with khaki slacks and brown loafers. Ulrich gasped. "You're not my conscience are you? I mean, you look like you're supposed to be some nerd version of me that does everything he's supposed to do!"

The boy stared at Ulrich as if he were talking to an idiot, which he was. "No, you imbecile. I look nothing like you. I am Xavier Alexander Nathaniel Anderson," Xavier smirked, "XANA for short."


	2. Meet Xavier

NOTICE: I've already updated The Best of Times the Worst Times and E Force Trio, and of course this story as well. I will update How To Mix Business With Pleasure Later on this week. I'd appreciate if people would review my stories more often, in particular, the two older one, The Best of Times and E Force Trio.

So here's chapter 2: Meet Xavier

Ulrich stared at the boy, gaping at him. "Okay, I'm really freaking out. You can't be Xana, we just got rid of you!

"Correction. You killed the Artificial Intelligence named Xana, you didn't kill me."

"What's the difference?" a confused Ulrich asked.

Xana kept his calm. "The difference is that I'm human and that thing Franz created wasn't."

"But why were you in there?"

"Maybe I should start from the beginning." Xavier suggested.

"Ya think?"

"No need to get angry." Xavier smirked at Ulrich. "You see, I used to go to Kadic Academy years back when Franz was still working on Lyoko. In fact I was actually his assistant."

"You helped Franz create Lyoko?" Xavier nodded. "So why didn't we find out about you from Franz's diary?"

"He didn't want to expose me to the men in black. I was just your age, you know. He didn't want to ruin my life. Unfortunately, I ended up with no life. When we were testing out whether or not the virtualization process worked, I volunteered to go into one of the scanners. It was a disaster. I virtualized right over the digital sea and fell in." Xavier paused in order to let his words into Ulrich's head. Ulrich gave him his full attention. "He thought I died. Unbeknownst to him, I could hear and see everything he did from the computer, but I couldn't contact him. He was distraught, to say the least. He continued only so my supposed death wouldn't be in vain. He even named the AI we both worked on together after my initials. Of course that AI was completely defected. When it sensed that was trapped in the digital sea, it tried to trap me completely. It even tried to possess. But I was able to fight it. However, we ended becoming being. It had complete control of one part of my brain. And I was able to manipulate parts of Xana through the other half."

"So if one went, the other would also go." Ulrich concluded. Xavier nodded.

"Did it ever cross your mind as to why Xana never tried sure fire plans. That AI could have easily killed you. All it had to do was attack you guys when you were away from the factory on vacation."

"That's true, but aside from that, it tried plenty of times. Meteor showers, materialized Lyoko monsters, possessing a criminal, an army of zombies," Ulrich started naming Xana attacks.

"Yes, but it could have easily taken you out. That AI could have easily disrupted the program needed for your return trips."

"But those made it stronger."

"No, actually they never did."

"What are you taking about?" Ulrich asked looking at Xavier curiously.

"Xana could never brutally attack you guys or make it impossible to stop him because I always held it back, and I made sure it couldn't get to those files. Plus, it helps to have a genius like Jeremie enforce and back up those files as well. But over time, he grew stronger, and was able to perform deadlier and more powerful attacks."

"So you helped us even though it meant that we might have destroyed you?"

"You would have never done that." Xavier said smirking.

"Why not?"

"Whenever you came too close to defeating Xana, I helped him assure our existence."

"So taking a part of Aelita's code and Xana escaping to the Internet was doing?"

"Yes, it was."

"Well then you're no better." Ulrich glared at the boy. Xavier hung his head.

He continued staring at the floor and said, "Ulrich, when you want to live, you'll do the most deplorable things—"

"If you're a coward you will." Ulrich interrupted. Xavier looked at Ulrich.

"I . . . I'm sorry. I was scared, and angry. I could feel my mind escaping from me. I was trapped in that computer for decades. No one knew I even existed. My family thinks I'm dead, my friends have completely forgotten about me." Xavier looked in space. "I'll never get to tell the love of my life how much I really love her." Ulrich felt a little sorry for his former enemy.

"Knowing that your life was ruined, why did you make our lives miserable?"

"Like I said, I held back that evil AI, but I couldn't hold him completely back. Those attacks took a lot out of that AI, and I used what little time I had to find a way to get full control of my body back. I grew psychotic in that secluded place. I tried contacting Franz and Aelita when she was trapped there, but the AI prevented me from finding Franz and from having any contact with Aelita. I grew angry at you kids for trying to stop me from materializing, so I kind of let Xana have freer reign towards the end."

"How did we stop you from materializing?"

"Every time you guys came close to defeating Xana, I had to make sure we both survived. When you guys materialized Aelita, I didn't have enough time to create the virus I was working on in order to get the AI out of my mind. I knew what was needed to be done to ensure our safety, but I would need full control of the AI in order to take a part of Aelita away. I had to make a deal with that digital devil and erase all of my work on the virus. It knew I was working on it, but could never get to it. Once you regained Aelita's missing memory, I had no choice but to let Xana escape into the Internet. By doing so, the virus that was set to attack Xana by away of Lyoko was completely useless."

"So how did you get control of your body?" Ulrich inquired. Xavier laughed.

"That's the ironic part, Ulrich." Xavier stared at Ulrich for a moment. "I never did."

Ulrich was on his guard. "You're not still connected to the AI because you claimed we destroyed it. So how in the world did you escape? You made another deal or somethin'?"

"Nope. I abandoned my body."

"You did what?"

"I realized that it could be years before I escaped. I also realized that escaping was futile anyways, after all, I would be completely alone. My family and friends moved on and left, the last I'd want to do is reopen old wounds by showing up—I know they would've been glad to see me, but it wouldn't have been that simple for them to believe me or even accept me. Imagine adjust to life by accepting the fact that someone who you had to get used to being dead was actually alive the entire time. It's too traumatic and dramatic. I could never have the same life I had before, and that's what I'd really want if I were to return to my old body. My want—no my need to simply escape was overwhelming. Add in the fact that you guys had started destroying replikas and were coming close to defeating Xana again, the last thing I needed was to exacerbate my own situation just so I could live. I had two choices, Ulrich: Escape to the real world with the AI inhabiting my mind, or just die. One top of that, I found out that Xana had already been making preparations to escape using William's body. He was going to leave me for dead."

"What did you do?"

Xavier was full of anger as he relieved that moment. "I thought I was dead for sure. I was completely alone. The only thing I had closest to a friend was the same thing that was trying to take over my mind and was now leaving me to die. I had nothing, so I decided I'd leave with nothing. The AI released the other side of my brain and began taking full control of William who was a more susceptible host at that time. It became a race as to who was faster: I would either manage to escape while the AI was destroyed, or the AI would escape and destroy me. I decided to make amends for putting you through so much suffering, and rectify all of things that I had ruined." Xavier looked at Ulrich and sighed. "Ulrich, I didn't just help the AI escape, I'm partly to blame for letting that thing take possession of me and for almost killing Franz and Aelita."

Ulrich gave no sign of emotion. "What happened?" he said, sounding more like a demand than a question.

"The AI filled me with the idea of it being Franz's fault for my imprisonment. It promised me power and of course a way out. I thought I would be control, but it turned I wouldn't be. That thing used me and tried to kill the two of them, but I stopped it in time for Franz to shut the whole thing down. It felt like my whole body and mind were stuck in one point forever, never changing and never ending until Jeremie started the supercomputer decades later. I decided that I would free Franz and William before I would escape. Honestly, I thought about using William as a body, but that seemed to inhumane to me. So instead, the AI decided to use that plan. However, because Xana was only able to take control of Xana because I had initially possessed him—"

"You possessed William?" Ulrich glared at Xavier again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything!" Xavier replied. "It's no excuse, but I was willing to do anything to survive. I made a deal with the AI to once again erase my virus work and to also provide him with a new "puppet" in order to ensure our survival. You guys were dangerously close to ending it with another member to the group. I couldn't afford the risk so I took him from you guys. Before I allowed the AI to control him, I planted a bug in his code that would prevent the AI from taking complete control of William. The bug also contained a virus that would destroy anything that attempted to take over William's body. When the AI decided to makes its move and escape, it was attacked by that thing and eventually released control of William. That's why William was materialized for no apparent reason as far as you guys were concerned. Ever since Franz saved Aelita from being thrown into the digital sea, I tracked him down knew of his location. The AI allowed Franz complete freedom, however Franz never gave up his hiding place. I told the AI Franz's hiding place so it would attempt to take over Franz instead of me, but I had already began the materialization of Franz and allowed him to escape from the AI's clutches. By the time the AI returned to me, I had full control of my mind, but it took over my body, thinking that I still wanted to leave in it. Unbeknownst to the AI, I had connected my body to the tower that you and your friends ultimately destroyed. I allowed the AI permanent control of my body and made the connection between the body and the tower impossible to destroy. Then it was only a matter of time for Jeremie and Franz to find out about Xana's Lair as you all called it and send a virus, the one I was never able to create, to get rid of that blasted demon."

"So how did you escape?"

"Remember when a blast of energy hit you?"

"Yeah."

"That was my mind transferring from my body to yours." Xavier gave the boy a devious smile.

"So now you're inside my head." Ulrich concluded. Xavier nodded.

"So what now? Are you going to possess me?"

"Heavens no! I don't want to go through anything like that ever again. And I don't want anyone to have to go through anything like the Hell I've been in. I just simply want to dwell peacefully in the real world."

"Well what makes you think I want you inside my mind?" Ulrich pouted.

"Please, Ulrich. I have no other choice. I need someone to let me live inside my mind."

"You were my worst enemy!"

"I never meant to do any of those things and I tried to make up for it."

"You made our lives miserable!"

"I intend to make up for that."

Ulrich looked at the boy curiously. "How?"

"I can help bring your grades up." Xavier offered. Then he gave Ulrich a cheesy grin and said, "I can even help you with Yumi." Ulrich glared. "I can give you all kinds of advice. I've been a teenager before, and I have observed the lives of people all over the world. I have an unlimited source of wisdom about life."

"That is a good offer." Ulrich admitted. "So you'll help me with tests and stuff?" Ulrich looked at him with a hopeful smile on his face.

Xavier frowned. "I'm not helping you cheat if that's what you're thinking."

Ulrich mirrored Xavier's frown. "Then how do you expect to help me with my grades?"

"I can tutor you."

Ulrich grumbled. "That's the last thing I need!"

"Not like Jeremie and Aelita. And definitely not like Yumi." Xavier smirked. Ulrich blushed.

"Because I have access to your mind, I'll know the best methods to teach you. Plus, I can teach you in your dreams actually.

"Won't that be kinda tiresome for me?"

"No. You'll get a full night's sleep while thinking about all of the facts you need to know for any test you need to take."

"That would've been great while you and that artificial Xana were attacking us."

Xavier laughed. "Yes, I suppose it would have been very convenient. So what do you say?"

Ulrich observed Xavier for a little while. "I have just one question. Why me?"

"Why you?" Xavier.

"Yeah, why would you want to live inside my mind instead someone else's like William?"

"I didn't choose William because I've already inhabited his mind before. I wanted someone different believe it or not. Plus I didn't think he would have accepted me seeing as I pretty much put him in the same situation I was in. I took a year of his life from him. I don't want to make him suffer anymore. As for the others, I don't want to live in Franz's mind because I don't want him to relive any regret for reducing me to this state. I don't blame him for the problems that Lyoko had. It be very wrong and rather perverted if I picked Aelita or Yumi so I didn't even dare to think of choosing them. Jeremie would be my second choice because he'd understand a lot of the techno stuff that I know, and he does remind me of old best friend."

"You had a best friend like Jeremie?"

Xavier laughed again. "I was a nerd." Xavier answered. "As for Odd . . . He's just too stupid for me. I fear his brain might smell worse than his feet due to the lack of usage." Ulrich laughed.

"I guess you got a point there."

"But most importantly," Xavier said as he gave Ulrich a very sincere and trustworthy look, "while Jeremie reminds me of my friend, you remind me of, well . . . me."

Ulrich and Xavier took a long moment to just stare at each other. "How do I remind you of yourself?"

"I was smart, but I was also good at sports as well—and all arounder, if you will. But it was hard to keep up with school, sports, and trying to make sure Franz didn't go to jail. Grades started slipping, I lost a few games, and I saw a side of my father that completely crushed me. He yelled at me and blamed my friends the same way your father blamed your friends for your mishaps. I always knew my father expected greatness from me. I couldn't stand his high standards, but Ulrich believe me, our fathers are of the same mold, so listen when I say that they truly care, or in my case cared, about us. When I went missing, my father cried for days—no, more like weeks. He blamed himself for my disappearance. He thought I ran away because he put too much pressure on me. It broke my heart to see that man who I once deemed unemotional, insensitive, greedy taskmaster as a father who simply wanted me to live up to my full potential. He knew that I wasn't doing my best, and didn't want me to miss out on any opportunities in my life. He wanted the best for me even if it meant bringing out the worst in him. He didn't realize that yelling at me wasn't going to make things better. Your father and my father are socially inept people. I've watched them both. They only seem comfortable around their spouses and that comes with what seems to be something that took years accumulate. They think by angering us and threatening us, we will show our true potential. And trust me, Ulrich, your potentiality at intelligence is truly untapped." Ulrich glared at the boy. "Sorry, but you know the facts. I told I was once in love before, similar to you and Yumi. I was head over heels in love with my best friend, Martha Banks. She's married now." Xavier looked off in space with a mournful look.

Ulrich finally spoke up. "So what you're saying is, you'd like to see what you missed out on. You want relive your life through me, by observing me and giving me a few pointers along the way?"

"Yes."

Ulrich looked deep in thought. It was hard enough to believe that a part of Xana was actually a human. It was even more unbelievable that this human side was supposedly like him. And now his enemy for the past three years wanted to live inside his head and be an advisor to him and eventually his friend.

"So will you do it?" Xavier asked Ulrich.

Ulrich looked right into Xavier's eyes and said, "Okay, let's do it."

I am drained. I just wrote two chapters for two of my stories back to back. Now that Ulrich has agreed to have Xavier live inside his head, let's see how he will cope with him. Until next time, see ya!


	3. A Little Help from Xana

Okay, I'm back yet again. I know it's been tooooooooo long since I've updated this story. I'm very sorry for that. I've been very busy, and I devoted time to only one story—the one everyone seemed to like whenever I updated all of my stories at the time. Also, (I'm bit ashamed to say) I didn't really know where to take this story exactly. The plot to a story like this is hard to me because it could easily go wrong. I've got a better idea as to where I want this story to go, but like three of my other stories, I'm really just winging it. Well enough prattling let's get on to the story.

Chapter 3: A Little Help from Xana

Ulrich yawned as he sat up in his bed. He looked over to Odd's bed to see that he was already out of the room. Ulrich looked out of the window. The sun was blaring through the window, hurting his eyes. "Dang. It must be very late." Ulrich mumbled. He had the weirdest dream—or at least he thought it was a dream—about Xana being a human that was dwelling inside his mind. That would make for a great conversation piece with the others. Ulrich thought.

"_It wasn't a dream, imbicile. Don't downgrade into one of your petty fantasies."_

"Whoa!" Ulrich yelped as he jumped from shock and fell out of the bed. "What the heck!"

"_Yes, what the heck. That what I thought, when you were thinking of actually denying me my existence." _Xana said.

"So it wasn't a dream?"

" _. . . Yes, it was a dream. You're just hallucinating right now. No, I'm joking. You're still dreaming."_

"Okay, I get it. Just realize that your story is still hard to swallow right now."

"_I understand. But just a word of caution; stop talking out loud. Someone's really going to think you're insane. Just think it. I can "hear" all of your thoughts."_

"_Okay."_ Ulrich thought.

"_Um, shouldn't be getting ready for school. It's already past eight. You don't really have a lot of time to be standing there."_

"Oh! Right!" Ulrich exclaimed as he zipped around the room, throwing his clothes on, and dashing out the door.

Ulrich ran all the way to his science class, and barely made it through the door before the bell rang.

"_Wow, nice super-sprint." _Xana commented. _"I always liked that ability."_

"_Thanks." _Ulrich replied in his mind.

Ulrich took his seat next to Odd. "Hey, buddy. Nice of you to wake up." Odd whispered as Mrs. Hertz started her lecture.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Ulrich asked.

"I tried, but you just kept swatting my hand away and turning over. Guess you needed that sleep, huh?"

"Yeah, I did. I had the craziest dream though."

"Oh really? Was it about Yumi?" Odd gave Ulrich a mischievous smirk.

"No." Ulrich said trying to hide his blush.

"Oh, seeing as I couldn't wake you. I thought I'd take a picture of you and send it to Yumi." Ulrich looked at Odd with an expression of shock on his face.

"You did what?" Ulrich said, barely keeping his voice at a whisper. Odd was trying his hardest to keep from laughing out loud.

"Shh, Ulrich, I'm trying to listen to Mrs. Hertz talk about molecules or whatever." Ulrich rolled his eyes and turned to listen to Mrs. Hertz.

Lunchtime came, and Ulrich was on his way to the cafeteria when he saw Principal Delmas standing at the entrance as if he were waiting for someone.

"_Whoa! Is that Mr. Delmas!" _Xana exclaimed.

"_You know him?" _Ulrich asked.

"_Uh-huh. He was a teacher when I was still a student here. He hasn't changed a bit."_

"Mr. Stern. I've been looking for you." Mr. Delmas said as Ulrich approached him.

"What is it sir?"

"You have an important phone call from your father. You may use the phone in my office to answer him."

Ulrich felt his heart skip a grade. It had to be about the failing report card that was just sent out last week.

"_That icy feeling in gut tells me that this is bad. I suspect your father will be livid about your grades, huh?"_

Ulrich silently made his way to the principal's office. When he got there he stared at the phone. He took a deep breath, picked it up, and said, "Hello."

"Three F's, 2 D's, a C, and only one A." the deep, baritone voice of Mr. Stern boomed from the other end of the phone.

"Dad," Ulrich started.

"I don't want to hear it! It's the same excuses with you. Why are doing this to yourself?"

"You think I want to fail? I'm trying my hardest!" Ulrich yelled.

"You're not trying at all! Just what in the world are you doing that's making you constantly fail? You were never this bad when you went to school here in Germany. Do you need to come back home?"

"No!" Ulrich shouted desperately. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his friends. Especially now that the fight with Xana was over, and he'd now have ample time to study.

"Well something has to change. Maybe you need to leave Kadic. I should've never sent you there in the first place. You've been doing terrible ever since you enrolled."

"But I like it here. It's taken time, but I have improved my grades."

"Going from five F's to three is hardly improvement. I have a hard time believing that you're trying your hardest as well. It's those friends of yours isn't it? You need to stop hanging around them. They're a bad influence on you."

"My friends have nothing to do with this! It's my problem. It's my fault! And I'll fix it! Taking me out of Kadic isn't going to solve anything! I need to fix my problem, but you have to let me figure it out for myself!" Ulrich argued. Silence followed. Ulrich blinked. Where in the world did that come from? It felt as if someone else was talking for him.

"So it's you, huh? I don't believe it. You're better than that. It's Kadic's fault! They've failed you. Now I'm going to send for you after the end of the quarter—"

"No, Dad. The school didn't fail me. I failed the school. I failed you. But most importantly I've failed myself. I've been . . . finding myself I guess you could say. And I let my priorities slip away from me. But I probably would've realized it sooner if had a better support system." Ulrich said with an implied insult towards his father. Ulrich could picture the look of shock on his father's face. Ulrich never came at his father like this before, and definitely not with this argument.

Ulrich was shocked himself. It was like someone else was talking for—oh crap, the power-hungry maniac's running wild at the mouth! Xana was actually talking for Ulrich.

"_What in the world do you think you're doing?" _Ulrich yelled in his mind.

"_I'm saving you from the chance of being taken out of Kadic. Now let me talk to your father. I've had years of pondering over what I'd say to my own father. And I've seen other children have the same talks with their own parents. I know what works."_

"Dad. I will bring up my grades. There will be no F's—not even a single D on my next report card. In fact, I'll have more than one A on that report card. I'm not promising you all A's. That'll take time. We have to be realistic." Ulrich paused. "I'll make you, mother, and myself proud. But I want you to know that I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for myself. I understand that you want what's best for me, and that you have a hard time getting your feelings across. I get that from you, Dad. I guess it comes from the military, huh? If you still want to take me out of Kadic, well that's your choice. I'm your son, and I have to obey your rules. But if you take me out when I'm just beginning to realize my potential—when I'm just starting to realize what I need to focus on—you'll be doing me more harm than good. You'll stunt my growth of confidence in myself, and you'll make me think that you've given up on me and there's no hope. Don't do that to me, Dad." There was a long pause. "Dad?" You still there?"

"I am." Mr. Stern said. He sounded different. For one, he wasn't yelling. Two, he actually sounded kind of happy. And three, he was still a bit taken aback from Ulrich's speech. "I'm giving you one more chance. You better . . . I'm trusting you to make the most of it."

"Thank you, Father. That's all I want." Ulrich said. This time, he was speaking for himself. Ulrich hung up the phone and let out a chuckle. "You're crazy." He said out loud.

"_Well it worked. You should be thanking me."_

"Thank you." Ulrich said. "Thanks a lot. Thank you very much!"

"_Okay, once was fine. You're entering looneyville again. Stop before someone comes in."_

"_Sorry. I'm just surprised that that actually worked. He didn't even curse!"_

Xana laughed. _"That's good. Now go eat some food. I can feel your stomach growling."_

Ulrich strutted towards the cafeteria and got his lunch. As he approached the table, Yumi saw him and smiled. "Hey, sleepy head. Taking a nap before meeting us." She joked.

"Odd showed you that dumb picture, didn't he?" Yumi nodded.

"I guess you were taking a well-deserved sleep from Xana." Aelita chimed in.

"I suppose so. I felt energized when I woke up."

"You weren't the only one, sleeping like a log. Jeremie was surgically attached to his bed." Aelita giggled at the thought.

Jeremie frowned as a slight blush creeped across his face. "I just forgot how comfortable my bed was."

"Much more comfortable than a keyboard and a computer chair, eh?" Ulrich joked. The others laughed.

"That, my friend, is the understatement of the year."

"Hey! You know what we should do?" Odd said after swallowing the last of his mashed potatoes. "We should throw a victory party tomorrow!"

"That's a great idea." Aelita agreed.

"I could come. Patrick's sleeping over tomorrow, and I don't want to be bothered with him AND Hiroki." Yumi said.

"Then it's agreed. We shall all celebrate the end of Xana." Jeremie said. "May we never return to that past again." The others laugh.

"That wasn't that bad of a joke, Einstein." Odd said, impressed. "I'm rubbing off on you, aren't I?"

"Oh God. I hope not." Jeremie said as he shivered at the thought of being more like Odd. They all laughed.

"_I'm so glad you all can celebrate my demise. May it bring you all true happiness!" _Xana said in mock enjoyment.

"_Well for me, it's the celebration of the AI's end. If that makes up for it at all." _Ulrich responded.

"So why were you late, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"My father called." The other's grew grim.

"What did he want?" Aelita asked.

"Well you all know what he wants." Ulrich mumbled.

"A's." Odd said absentmindedly. Ulrich glared.

"Yeah, A's. But he said he was going to take me out of Kadic and move me back to Germany." Everyone at the table gasped and let out cries of disagreement. "But I actually managed to get him to give me one more try. But I had to really sell it. I can't make a single failing grade, and I have to have more than one A on that report card.

"Well at least you PE down. That's one A you don't have to worry about." Odd said. The others glared.

"Odd this is serious." Yumi said sternly. "Ulrich could leave us for good."

"I know. I don't like it either." Odd said glumly.

"We'll tutor you." Jeremie offered. "Well Aelita, Yumi, and I could tutor you. Odd might make you fail even worse if he tutored you."

"I'm no disagreeing." Odd said as he took Jeremie's roll and bit into it.

"Yeah, we can work some kind of study plan, and help you." Aelita said.

"That's exactly what I need." Ulrich said.

"_You will help me too, right?" _Ulrich asked.

"_Of course. I didn't just give the most dazzling speech for you to just get kicked out. But absolutely no cheating. I'm not just going to tell you what the answers are or how to get them during a test."_

"_Fair enough."_

"So it's agreed. Ulrich and Odd will be under our careful tutelage." Jeremie declared.

"You're just making all kinds of delcarations." Ulrich smirked.

"Wait. You said Ulrich AND Odd. My parents aren't threatening to take me out of Kadic."

"Please, you'll get expelled for your grades alone." Yumi said. "We can't have that. Besides, if you can't help Ulrich with tutoring, you can at least be there for moral support."

Odd mumbled something about annoying friends that cared too much and took a bite out of Yumi's mashed potatoes.

After lunch, they went their separate ways, and eventually met back up at their bench at the end of the school day. After more talking and joking, Yumi stood up and said her goodbyes to the gang.

"Yumi, I'll walk you home." Ulrich said abruptly as he practically jumped off of the bench. Ulrich looked rather annoyed which puzzled Yumi. He quickly put a smile on his face. Xana was "speaking up" again.

"_There is no way you're doing this to keep me in Kadic." _

"_No, but it's still fun. I wanna see some drama."_

"_Glad, I can entertain." _

The walk to Yumi's started with a nice, awkward silence. That always gets the mood going!

Xana sighed. _"This is boring. Say something." _

"_Well I didn't even want to be in this position!"_

"_Yeah right. You love this girl. Now flirt with her."_

"_I'm not just going to start putting moves on her."_

"_Well at least say something. This is ridiculous."_

"_What's ridiculous is me letting you roam around in my head."_

"Ulrich." Yumi said.

"What?" Ulrich snapped. "Oh, sorry! I-I was just very deep in thought, and you kind of startled me."

"Oh." Yumi said, rather disappointed.

"_Idiot! You just made it look like you don't really care about her!"_

"_How?"_

"_You were pondering while walking with her. Like you have other things on your mind besides her."_

"_Well it's not my fault! It's you—,"_

"So, uh, what were you thinking about?"

Ulrich looked at her, and didn't know what to say. They then felt his lips move without his wanting to. "You—and the others." He quickly added. Xana was still possessing people, the scoundrel.

Yumi was blushing. "What about us?"

Ulrich looked around as if the answer was somewhere around Yumi's neighborhood. Ulrich felt himself stop walking. Xana was now making him stop moving.

"_No! Don't get to Yumi's just yet. Talk."_

Ulrich sighed. "Just about how things were going to be now that Xana's gone." Ulrich said Xana's name with venom in his voice.

"_Oh, I love you too." _Xana chirped.

"Well we'll be able to have a lot more fun for once." Yumi said smiling at him. Ulrich could melt under that smile. It made him smile.

"Yeah, but in a weird twist of fate, we met and became friends because of Xana."

"I guess we owe him that much. But that's about it."

"_For you maybe, but I'm about to get Ulrich a girlfriend." _Xana joked.

"_Shut up, she can't hear you."_

"_I could just use your voice, you know."_

"You're right. Things are going to feel a lot different though. But I'm ready for it. It's what we've all wanted."

"You're right." Yumi agreed. "We can keep our friendship strong without Lyoko and Xana. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, our friendship."

"So, about the tutoring thing. If ever need to, you can always come over if you really need help."

"_Oh baby! She wants you in the house!"_

"_It is not like that." _

"_Well it's good enough for me!"_

"I'll be sure to take you up on that. I need you, you know. Because, uh, I'm not going to pass by myself." Ulrich quickly added the last part. He and Yumi were blushing this time.

"Okay. I'll be there for you." Yumi said looking him in the eyes. It was as if there was double meaning in those words. And there was. But Ulrich didn't dwell on that too long. He walked her the rest of the way back, and gave her hug (Xana's doing) which caught her by surprise. He blushed and waved goodbye as he walked off without saying a word.

"_I'm going to kill you." _Ulrich said to Xana.

"_Okay. Just realized that in order to kill me, you'll have to kill yourself so good luck with that."_

"_You're really enjoying this aren't you?"_

"_I told you that I wanted to observe life through your eyes. And I gotta say, this better than The Sims. This better than TV! I picked the right mind to invade."_

"_Exactly. Invade. You're possessing me! I thought you were supposed to be good."_

"_Well when you've been trapped in a computer for years on end, the last thing on your mind (well technically your mind seeing as I'm in it) is being nice and mannerable. No you want action! You want romance! You want suspense! Now I can't have that, so I'll have to settle with you having it for me."_

"_So . . . if I did go on a date with you and stuff. Could you . . ."_

"_Could I be able to feel her kiss you and stuff?"_

" _. . . Yeah." Ulrich said weakly._

"_I could. But I won't invade your privacy that much. I'll just shut myself out."_

"_You can do that?"_

"_Yes. I have access to your brain. That's how I can make you say or do things." _Ulrich felt violated.

"_So what, you just move into the deep recesses of my mind?"_

"_Wow, I didn't know you knew that word. You're smarter than I thought you were. Well I've only been in the brain for a day, so I guess I wouldn't be able to guage your intelligence right off the bat." _Ulrich was annoyed. _"But yes. I go into the part of brain that's not being used, that way, I can give you privacy. Just let me know when to come out, that way I won't be coming out when this are . . . coming off."_

"You're a pervert." Ulrich said angrily.

"Sorry! I only peeked in the girl bathroom once!" Odd said. Ulrich was startled. He didn't realize that he had already made his way back to his dorm.

"Well don't ever do it again." Ulrich said.

"How'd you find out? You psychic or something?"

"No. My other mind told me." Ulrich said, making an inside joke.

"Whatever." Odd said as he got into his bed and turned over to face the wall. He was out in a second.

"_This was a great day today, Ulrich. Thank you. I think this is the start of a beautiful—and possibly mentally confusing—friendship." Xana said._

"_Same to you. You're not the evil, maniacal, monster I thought you to be. Just don't make me flirt with Yumi again. I can handle that myself."_

"_Really? Well we'll see won't we?"_

"_We have a lot to see. That's the least of it, if you ask me." _ With that, Ulrich turned in for the night.

I'm done. I'm sleepy, and I think I'm a bit disoriented. I've been staring at the screen for an hour straight now. I'm proud of myself. I really like this chapter. I like where it's headed too. So here's insight on the next chapter. Ulrich begins his tutoring, and Xana proves his smarts to the former samurai. And when Ulrich and the others go out in the town for some fun, Xana reveals some more of his tricks that will be greatly needed.

Chapter 4: Smarts that Smart


End file.
